- Looking for another article with the name Scorpion? Check out the Scorpion disambiguation page.
Scorpion is an enemy of Spider-Man that uses his costume with a scorpion tail on the back as him main weapon.
History[]
Becoming the Scorpion[]
Gargan before becoming Scorpion
Mac Gargan started out as a private investigator. However, he was a natural born loser that everyone picked on. At one point, J. Jonah Jameson hired Gargan to spy on Peter Parker to find out how he got such good photos of Spider-Man. That night, Peter Parker was walking with Felicia Hardy and he was able to avoid Mac Gargan because his spider sense alerted him to Gargan's presence. When Peter turned to confront him, Gargan ran away. The next day, Gargan went to the Daily Bugle and met with J. Jonah Jameson. Peter saw Gargan enter Jameson's office and changed into his Spider-Man costume and went into Jameson's office and trapped Gargan in his web. After Spider-Man left the office, Gargan became angry about how everyone makes him look like a fool. Jameson then told Gargan that he is a fool. However, Jameson also told Gargan that he could help him get a chance at revenge against Spider-Man.
Jameson then paid an ESU scientist named Farley Stillwell to mutate Gargan into a superhuman. Stillwell injected Gargan with scorpion DNA then exposed him to radiation from the Neogenic Recombinator. Upon learning that he was being exposed to radiation, Gargan began to fear that the radiation would kill him. However, Stillwell told Gargan that the radiation would not be deadly to him because of his limited intelligence. The Neogenic Recombinator then mutated Gargan and gave him enhanced strength. Stillwell also revealed to Jameson that he chose to mutate Gargan's DNA into a scorpion's because the scorpion is the natural predator of a spider. Stillwell then gave Gargan a special suit which had a tail on back that could be used to hit opponents and it could also spray acid from the tip.
Hunting Spider-Man[]
The next day, Jameson sent Scorpion into New York City to track down Spider-Man. Scorpion proved to be a real challenge to Spider-Man. Scorpion was even able to knock Spider-Man unconscious. As when Scorpion went to unmask Spider-Man, then suddenly he mutated even more further and grew fangs, his fingers got claws and his skin turned green, and his eyes turned yellow. Scorpion then kidnapped Jameson because he blamed him for turning into a freak monster creature. Scorpion then took Jameson to OsCorp where he revealed that he planned to use the radiation from the OsCorp nuclear reactor to reverse what was done to him. However, because of his limited intelligence, Scorpion did not realize that if he broke into the nuclear reactor the breach would cause a meltdown and destroy New York City.
Spider-Man eventually awoke and by pure luck saw Scorpion and Jameson and followed them to OsCorp. A short while later, Spider-Man arrived and stopped Scorpion. However, during their fight Scorpion accidentally hit a button on a computer console which removed the nuclear rods from the reactor and started a nuclear meltdown. While Spider-Man was trying to stop the meltdown, Scorpion grabbed him and started to suffocate him. However, J. Jonah Jameson tackles Scorpion and he dropped Spider-Man. Scorpion then went to kill Spider-Man, but Jameson began to call him names, which distracted him. Spider-Man then started to call Scorpion names also. This made Scorpion angry and when he attempted to hit Spider-Man with his tail Spider-Man grabbed an electrical wire and touched it to Scorpion's tail. An electrical current then passed through Scorpion's body and caused him to pass out. Scorpion was then arrested and taken to prison.
The Insidious Six[]
Sometime later that night, Kingpin orchestrated Scorpion's prison break along with Doctor Octopus, Shocker, Mysterio, Rhino, and Chameleon. As they arrived at a warehouse, Scorpion and the others heard Kingpin's voice over an intercom and said that he and the others would be Kingpin's secret weapon. As Scorpion shouted that he wasn't anybody's weapon but his own, Shocker told him to be quite and said "watch his mouth" because he was talking to the Kingpin of crime. Scorpion himself was surprised to learn that it was the Kingpin who broke him out of prison. When Kingpin told them that he wanted them to be part of a team he called the Insidious Six. Scorpion and the others denied his offer. However, Kingpin reminded Scorpion and the others that the last time they fought Spider-Man on their own they were all defeated. After hearing this, Scorpion said that he "Would kill for a chance to work for the Kingpin" and he and the others decided to join Kingpin's Insidious Six.
Not too long afterward, Scorpion and the Insidious Six attacked an armored truck to draw Spider-Man out to the open which worked. Their trap worked and Doctor Octopus was able to capture Spider-Man. As Scorpion stepped forward, he demanded that he be the one to kill Spider-Man. However, Doctor Octopus refused and began to call him names. The name calling made Scorpion angry, so Scorpion used his tail to hit Doctor Octopus' mechanical arms which caused Doc Ock to drop him. Spider-Man attempted to fight off the Insidious Six but at the time didn't have his powers and after realizing he could not stand a chance against six of his worst enemies, he ran away. However, Scorpion slammed his tail on the sidewalk causing it to cave in and Spider-Man fell into the subway.
Scorpion followed Spider-Man into the subway and got on top of a subway car train. However, Scorpion was unable to find Spider-Man because at the time Spider-Man had changed back into Peter Parker his street clothes and was hiding inside the subway car. While not paying attention, the subway traveled under a low hanging metal rod which hit Scorpion knocking him off the subway as Peter was hiding inside the subway safely.
Shortly after, Spider-Man escaped Kingpin ordered the Insidious Six to search the city and find him. Scorpion later got the idea to go to Peter Parker's house and follow him until he led him to Spider-Man. Scorpion got this idea because he knew Peter took pictures of Spider-Man for the Daily Bugle. As Scorpion arrived outside of the Parker house that night, he was confronted by Doctor Octopus. As Doctor Octopus grabbed Scorpion's limbs with his mechanical arms, he forced Scorpion to tell him what he was doing. Doctor Octopus then stole Scorpion's idea and went to the Parker house and kidnapped May Parker to force Peter to have Spider-Man confront them. However, when Spider-Man went to save May he walked into a trap set by the Insidious Six. When Spider-Man arrived, he was quickly captured by the Insidious Six. However, at the time Spider-Man had lost his powers so when they unmasked him, they believed that he was not the real Spider-Man. Scorpion and the other five then ordered Peter to take them to the real Spider-Man or else they would harm May.
When Peter arrived at a rooftop, he met the Insidious Six and told them that Spider-Man would be arriving soon. Shocker then used his Vibro-Shock Gauntlets to blast Peter Parker over the roof. As Peter fell, he quickly changed back into his Spider-Man costume and went back to the roof. As Doctor Octopus and Scorpion double teamed Spider-Man, Spidey tricked Scorpion and Doctor Octopus into fighting each other allowing him enough time to get away. After this, the Insidious Six disbanded and they went their separate ways because Scorpion and the others thought that Kingpin could not deliver on the promises he made.
Partners[]
After Scorpion attacked OsCorp, Stillwell became paranoid, possible having schizophrenia, and was placed in an asylum. However, Scorpion broke into the asylum and kidnapped Stillwell and demanded that he turn him back into a normal human.
Scorpion later took Stillwell to a laboratory where he wanted Stillwell to find a cure for him. However, Vulture was there with Curt Connors to try and find a cure for his mutation disease. Scorpion and Vulture briefly fought. However, Vulture told Scorpion that if he helped him capture Spider-Man, he would supply him with a laboratory to find a cure. Scorpion agreed and when Spider-Man arrived at the lab, Vulture and Scorpion were able to capture him.
However, Connors double-crossed Vulture. Connors was able to return Spider-Man's youth while keeping the mutation disease in Vulture's body. Spider-Man then fought Scorpion and Vulture. As Farley Stillwell activated the self-destruct sequence on the Neogenic Recombinator, Spider-Man got out of the lab before the Recombinator exploded. After the explosion, Spider-Man was unsure if Scorpion survived the explosion. However, Scorpion did survive and was furious that his one chance at finding a cure for his mutation was gone.
Non-canon history[]
In the story book Spider-Man: Caught in the Web, Hobgoblin teams up with Scorpion to steal the Neogenic Recombinator. However, they are both quickly defeated by Spider-Man.
Powers and equipment[]
Powers[]
After the Neogenic Recombinator mutated Gargan's DNA into that of a scorpion's he gained superhuman strength, agility and enhanced speed.
Equipment[]
Gargan's scorpion suit had a tail on the back which could spray acid from the tip. The tail also has a metal blade on the tip and the tail could also be used to hit opponents. On the fingertips of the gloves are claws that allow Scorpion to crawl on walls similar to Spider-Man.
Appearances[]
Trivia[]
- Before Martin Landau was cast as Scorpion, Bill MacKenie and Frank Gorshin (who was best known for playing Riddler in the 1960s Batman series) auditioned for the role.
- After Martin Landau won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in the 1994 movie Ed Wood, he was no longer available to voice Scorpion. Richard Moll was then recast as the voice of Scorpion and voiced him for the rest of the series.
- In the comics, Mac Gargan was in fairly good shape before becoming the Scorpion as opposed to Spider-Man: The Animated Series where Gargan started out as a short, chubby man.
- In the comics, Mac is short for MacDonald.
- In the Ultimate Comics, his name was changed to Maximus Gargan.